Principal professional development: effective learning strategies
These links take you to papers and articles about three professional development strategies: mentoring, coaching, and developing principal portfolios, that might contribute to the kind of deep learning that leads principals to improving, understanding, and reflecting more effectively on their practice.
Current thinking about effective principal professional development questions the idea that school leaders can learn how to "do the job" by attending occasional courses. As Neil Dempster, David Stewart, and Paula Evans and Nancy Mohr indicate in their work (see: Perspectives), because the job of the principal is complex and site-specific, achieving the kind of deep learning that leads to improvement means undertaking learning strategies that are on-going and reflective in nature.
Mentoring and coaching are two such strategies, according to Hobson (2003):
A number of influential theories of professional learning point to the learning potential of having professionals work closely with experienced practitioners acting as 'mentors or coaches'.
Hobson, A. J. (2003). Mentoring and coaching for new leaders:
A review of the literature. Nottingham: NCSL.
Mentoring
Mentoring relationships between principals are becoming a popular professional learning approach in many New Zealand schools. These relationships occur most commonly between an experienced and a less experienced principal. However, it is not usual for principals to peer mentor each other.
In a mentoring relationship principals schedule meetings with each other to think about, talk about and reflect on their leadership experiences.
Developing School Leaders One Principal at a Time by Dennis Littky and Molly Schen
Read a mentor principal's account an in-school, apprenticeship-based preparation programme for aspiring principals, and consider reflective questions from this account.
Help for First-time Principals
This article in the Education Gazette / Tukutuku Korero (5 May 2003) describes the role that mentoring is playing in the First Time Principals programme.
http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/articles/show_articles.php?id=6402
Principals Working with Principals: Keeping education at the centre of practice by Jan Robertson
From set: Research Information for Teachers, 1, 1999 (Item 9) this report by Waikato University's Educational Leadership Centre (http://www.soe.waikato.ac.nz/elc/) head, Jan Robertson, outlines a model of professional development for New Zealand principals based on peer-assisted leadership development.
Download article [PDF, 81kb]
A Review of the Literature and an Exploration of Mentoring Practices by Mark Carter
This online paper from the NSW Department of Education and Training will be of interest to those school leaders who are looking for information about the theory of mentoring and its relationship to reflective practice.
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/edu_leadership/prof_read/mentoring/index.php
Mentoring and Coaching for New Leaders: A review of the literature by Andy Hobson
What mentoring and coaching strategies are being used to assist the development of new school principals? What does the evidence tell us about the effectiveness of mentoring and coaching strategies to assist their professional development?
Read the paper online at http://www.ncsl.org.uk/publications/publications-m.cfm and scroll to 'M'.
Coaching
Coaching is often thought of as an aspect of mentoring. In a coaching relationship the role of the coach (another principal or an outside consultant) is usually focused on the acquisition of job-specific tasks and competencies. However, both roles might be performed by the same person.
Coaching Isn't Just for Athletes: The role of teacher leaders by Eileen Guiney
This article from Phi Delta Kappan, 82 (10), 740–743, June, 2001 describes a number of primary and secondary schools in Boston, US, that engage "change coaches" and "content coaches" to work with principals and staff.
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0106gui.htm
Coaching leaders: The path to improvement by Jan Robertson
In this paper Associate Professor Jan Robertson discusses the process of coaching with a peer partner as a key professional learning strategy for principals who are seeking to improve their leadership practice.
Do Principals need a Coach? by Graham Hoult
http://www.apapdc.edu.au/archive/ASPA/conference2000/papers/art_4_35.htm
Principal Appraisal: Coaching educational leaders to continuous self-improvement by Graham Hoult
http://www.icponline.org/index.php?option=com_content
&task=view&id=148&Itemid=50
The two articles listed above look at the issue of principal coaching from an Australian perspective. Hoult looks at the purpose of coaching in the first reading, and how it can be applied in an appraisal situation in the second reading.
Developing principal portfolios
The development of a portfolio as a way of charting a professional journey is becoming a standard professional development tool for many principals world-wide. Such portfolios contain assembled evidence (collected, selected, and reflected upon) of the principal's personal and professional growth in the job. Some of the many approaches to setting up and managing portfolios in an education setting are described in the links below.
Digital Portfolio for Educators
Developed Dr David Stewart, this website is a resource for principals who are interested in developing digital portfolios. The tutorial page offers a range of streamed sound tutorials (approximately 5 minutes long) to stimulate thinking and discussion. The site also has information for teachers and students who wish to develop portfolios.
http://www.edex.net.nz/
Educators Making Portfolios by Kathleen Cushman
This article from Phi Delta Kappan (1999, June), pages 744–750, details the evidence from a piece of US research which overviews the value of professional portfolios.
http://www.nsrfharmony.org/kappanjun1.html
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